After nine days off for finals, the Golden Eagles (7-3) get back on the court to face Northern Illinois (6-4) on Monday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The game will be televised on FS1 with Jeff Levering and Stephen Bardo and can be heard on AM-540 with Jim McIlvaine and Steve "Homer" True.

Here are three things to watch:

1. Big decisions

The biggest story line for MU in this game is sophomore center Harry Froling making his debut after transferring from Southern Methodist. Froling has gotten into remarkable shape since arriving in Milwaukee. He is a highly skilled big man who told the Journal Sentinel that he considers himself a "playmaker" who "loves to pass and set up his teammates." That skill set gives Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski a different look at center than Matt Heldt and Theo John and it will be interesting to see how Wojciechowski rotates his big men. John has shown flashes of his talent in recent games and has cut down on silly fouls; he probably needs consistent minutes to keep improving. It will likely take Froling a few games to get acclimated but he will be anxious to get on the court.

2. Rest vs. rust

Sometimes teams can get rusty with a long time between games but MU welcomed the nine-day break. The Golden Eagles had to work Froling into the mix and also had more time to practice after a busy start to the season that included a trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The team took two days off after the Wisconsin victory but then got right back to work.

3. Markus' marksmanship

We'll see if the long break also cools down MU sophomore guard Markus Howard. In the last four games for the Golden Eagles, Howard has averaged 29.8 points per game while shooting 25 of 47 (53%) on three-pointers. MU's starting backcourt of Howard (22.5 points per game) and Andrew Rowsey (21.8) are the second-highest scoring duo in nation at 44.3 ppg behind only Niagara's Matt Scott and Kahlil Duke (46.4).